OSAKA, JAPAN-- Panasonic trimmed its board of executive officers Wednesday and
named the first female member in the company’s 95-year history, according to reports out of Japan.

Panasonic named Hiroko Ota, a former economic and fiscal policy
minister now teaching at Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy
Studies, to its board, Bloomberg reported.

At the same time, the company said in a statement it has eliminated
nine executive officers, dropping the board from 30 to 21. Some of those
former members are retiring without being replaced.

President Kazuhiro Tsuga, 56, is in the process of preparing a
revival plan for the Japanese TV and consumer electronics giant as its
prepares for an estimate fourth annual loss in five years.

Panasonic posted a 772 billion-yen ($8.4 billion) net loss in the year ended March 2012.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg said the company is adding a director to its previous 16, and will keep five auditors.

Panasonic reported a profit last quarter after eliminating 13,000 jobs.

Retiring executive officers include Shiro Kitajima, president of a
North American marketing unit, whose duties will be added to those of
Joseph Taylor.

According to reports in Japan, Tsuga is expected to announce a new
medium-term plan next month that could place greater emphasis on
divisions offering the highest profit margins, such as beauty products,
while decreasing reliance on lower-margin products such as TVs. ~ from TWICE.